Entry 235-5
Huntsville Hospital and The Orthopaedic Center Provide Medical Care to Strike King Pros
Editor’s Note: Dewayne Manning is the director of sports medicine at Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville Hospital and The Orthopaedic Center (TOC), also located in Huntsville, have teamed up to offer medical advice and treatment to the Strike King Pro Staff members. We’ve asked Manning, a certified athletic trainer, about the injuries fishermen commonly suffer, and what treatment options are available.
Part 5: Medical Advice and Treatment for Avid Anglers
Question: Dewayne, you’ve explained the 5 most-common injuries that professional fishermen have, what causes these injuries, and how you, TOC and Huntsville Hospital will be treating and rehabbing these injuries to enable the Strike King Pros to compete as pain-free as possible and at their peak level of physical conditioning. Is the Huntsville Hospital offering these services to other fishermen also?
Manning: Most of the doctors and trainers at the Huntsville Hospital are avid fishermen. So what we’re trying to do is take our medical knowledge and apply it to help competitive anglers fish at their highest capabilities. Certainly we will treat any fisherman who has any of these injuries or these types of problems. For instance, a professional football team has a trainer and a medical staff that specializes in football-related injuries. What we at Huntsville Hospital want to do is to provide these same kinds of services that we’re providing for the Strike King professional fishing team to the fishing public.
The general public may not perceive fishermen as athletes. However, they are. They’re highly-skilled, highly-trained competitors. And they often have unique injuries related to the type of competition in which they participate. 
We believe that the Strike King pro fishermen are at the very pinnacle of the sport of bass fishing. Therefore, if we can define and treat some of the very-best athletes in the sport of fishing and enable them to continue to compete at a very-high level pain-free and injury-free, then we should be able to help any fisherman who has medical problems or ailments.
Many local fishermen are just as serious about their fishing as Strike King’s tournament pros. Therefore, they’ll have many of the same problems and need the same treatment as we’re providing for the Strike King pros. We want to be the fishing industry’s specialists in treating fishing-related medical problems.
You don’t see football players come into their dressing room, put on their pads and jerseys, and go out and play. They come out and warm up and have their medical needs attended to long before the game ever starts. We want to teach the Strike King pros how to go through much the same routine that a highly-skilled football player does before he puts on his game face and gets ready to compete.
We also want to prevent the Strike King pros from having to drop out of a competition or miss a practice day because they’re sick or injured. 
By teaching the Strike King pros how to condition themselves before they compete, we can prevent many of these common injuries. TOC has a pre-season conditioning program, an in-season conditioning program and a post-season conditioning program designed specifically for fishermen.
We’ll also be giving the anglers nutritional suggestions that will let their fine-tuned fishing machines run all day at peak performance. Most fishermen will stop at a gas station and buy junk food to eat before they fish, and while they’re fishing - not a very-healthy diet for a highly-conditioned athlete. Fishermen need energy and strength. We’re trying to help them make better food choices before, during and after competitions. We want to be the training and medical element of the Strike King pro fishermen program.
Here are some of the top-notch people available to help the Strike King pros. Dr. John Greco is the medical Director for Huntsville Hospital’s Sports Center. Dr. Michael Cantrell has a specialty in sports medicine and trauma. Dr. Brian Carter deals primarily with back and neck problems. Dr. Lou Horn has a total joint specialty as well as dealing with general orthopedics. Dr. Mark Leberte is a trauma specialist and a surgeon. 
Dr. John Shaw is a back surgeon. Dr. David Showers is one of our primary-care physicians. Huntsville Hospital has a wide variety of physicians, but these doctors in particular will be working with the Strike King pros.
This one-of-a-kind medical program has been set up specifically to deal with fishing-related medical problems. Having this medical team available and participating with them in their care and treatment of injuries will give the Strike King pros a huge advantage as they try to stay healthy and fish at their peak performance. This program will also deal with conditioning and the nutritional aspects related to competitive fishing.
You can contact Dewayne Manning at TOC at Huntsville Hospital at 256-539-2728 or email him at dewaynem@hhsys.org. For more information about The Orthopaedic Center, call 256-265-5000 or go to The Orthopaedic Center website.
